Football Practice Apparatus

ABSTRACT

A ball retrieving apparatus used by a player for independently practicing the skills of throwing and catching an American style football. The football contains a modified rubber bladder of reduced size, enabling the ball to achieve a proper and consistent bounce due to the ball&#39;s flexible ends. The apparatus comprises a regulation style football pivotally and detachably communing with an elastic shock cord including swivels. The cord is anchored to a band worn on the player&#39;s wrist. When the ball is thrown in a forward direction, the cord stretches forward. When the cord reaches its maximum forward displacement, the ball snaps back, bouncing one time as it flies back toward the player. Because of the modified bladder, the ball returns in the air so that after one “hop” it may be caught by the thrower. The consistent bounce allows the player to independently throw and catch the ball numerous times in rapid succession.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of provisional patent application Ser. No. 62/037,358 filed 2014 Aug. 14 by the present inventor.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The following is a tabulation of some prior art that presently appears relevant:

U.S. Patents

U.S. Pat. No. Issue Date Patentee 5772542 A 1998 Jun 30 Gildea, Beaudette 289,221 1883 Nov. 27 Clark 3,790,171 1974 Feb. 5 Anderson 3,709,491 1973 Jan. 9 Minchin 4,235,042 1980 Nov. 25 Hills 4,240,592 1980 Dec. 23 Russo 4,352,497 1982 Oct. 5 Warehime 5,058,883 1991 Oct. 22 Dybvik 3,227,450 1966 Jan. 4 Pruitt 3,525,523 1970 Aug. 25 Bellagamba 3,804,409 1974 Apr. 16 Schachner 4,350,338 1982 Sep. 21 May 4,991,840 199-02-12 Patton 5,031,910 1991 Jul. 16 Kopp

U.S. Patent Application Publication

Publication Nr. Publi. Date Applicant US 2004/0204299 A1 2004 Oct. 14 Shirley et al

Many training devices exist to build arm strength and improve technique in the skill of passing a football. Of the techniques for building arm strength that use a football, most involve either a net or a throwing partner. An apparatus that could be used by a single player to throw continuously would be of great value to many players who seek to improve their throwing strength and technique while also practicing the skills of catching and handling the ball.

There are many types of tethered ball arrangements and several that involve a football, but to date there is no apparatus that will allow a player, using a regulation style football, to throw and then consistently catch his own pass. The main reason for the inconsistency of tethered football arrangements is the shape of the football. In a tethered football apparatus used for passing the ball, the method must involve the ball striking the ground and rebounding to the player. An unmodified football's shape does not allow for a consistent bounce, and so a passer must spend a great deal of time and effort retrieving passes that are returned either skidding along the ground or veering sharply off to either side. My invention allows a player to throw a regulation style football while consistently catching his own passes.

Various tethered ball arrangements are known in the art. Such tethered ball arrangements are commonly used for many types of balls, including toy balls, soccer balls, volleyballs, tether balls and the like, and for other projectiles such as shuttlecocks. Examples of such tethered ball and object arrangements are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 289,221; 3,790,171; 3,709,491; 4,235,042; 4,240,592; 4,352,497 and 5,058,883.

Tethered footballs are also known which enable a person to practice various football skills, such as kicking, punting, passing and field goal kicking in which the ball is automatically returned to the person engaging in the practice. Examples of such systems are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,227,450; 4,991,840; 3,525,523; 3,804,409; 4,350,338; and 5,031,910.

U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,227,450, 4,991,840 and 3,525,523 relate to a tethered football for practicing kicking. The footballs disclosed in these patents are secured to shock cords, which, in turn, are anchored to the ground with two stakes. These balls allow the user to practice kicking but not throwing or catching.

U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,804,409; 4,350,338 and 4,350,338 disclose tethered footballs anchored to the ground with shock cord and one stake. These balls are suitable for practicing various football skills including kicking and passing, but because the ball will be returned in a series of hops or skips these devices do not allow the user to catch the ball in the air on its return.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,031,910 is a device that allows for the catching of the ball, but the ball must be released by another person and is not thrown.

U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,772,542 and U.S. Pat. application US 2004/0204299 A1 disclose tethered footballs (in one embodiment of US 2004/0204299 A1) that do not use a stake but attach to the thrower's wrist or other part of the body. These balls do not contain a modified bladder and so will not have a consistent bounce back to the thrower; rather the ball will bounce erratically when it strikes the ground on one of the ends rather than toward the ball's center. While the thrower may be able to catch some passes on the ball's return, many passes will be returned either skipping along the ground or bouncing drastically off to one side or another and not allowing for a catch.

U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,853,339 and 3,940,133 disclose a ball retrieving apparatus that attaches a ball to a person's wrist using an elastic rubber band. The apparatus disclosed in 3,940,133 includes a football that is not a regulation football but a ball constructed of lightweight thermoplastic foam having a plurality of apertures within the surface of the football. Since the ball is made of lightweight foam and contains apertures it does not resemble a regulation football and so would not be suitable for practicing competitive football skills. The apparatus disclosed in 3,940,133 also includes a football that is not a regulation football but one constructed of foam and thus is not suitable for simulating the use of a standard competitive football.

Advantages

A need has thus arisen for a regulation style football apparatus that returns the ball to the passer in a catchable fashion. The football practice apparatus allows a player to throw a forward pass and then catch the returned ball in the air. The return of the ball is achieved on one “hop,” and the player is able to throw and catch the ball numerous times in rapid succession without interruption.

In footballs containing a bladder, the bladder typically inflates to the size and shape of the football. In the football practice apparatus, the ball has a modified rubber bladder of reduced size so that when it is filled with air the bladder does not extend all the way to the ends of football, resulting in a football with softer ends that provides for a consistent bounce no matter which part of the ball strikes the ground. The user is able to practice throwing a regulation style football in order to build arm strength and improve throwing motion and technique. The user is consistently able to catch the pass that he has thrown and then throw the ball again in a way that is very similar to “playing catch” or throwing with a partner.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A football practice apparatus used by a player for independently practicing the skills of throwing and catching an American style football. The football practice apparatus comprises a regulation style football pivotally and detachably communing with segments of elastic shock cord. The regulation style football has a modified rubber bladder of reduced size that allows both ends of the ball to be far more flexible, enabling the ball to achieve a proper and consistent bounce when returning to the player.

The elastic shock cord is anchored to an adjustable wrist support band worn on the player's wrist. When the ball is tossed in a forward direction, the elastic shock cord is stretched in a forward direction. When the elastic shock cord has reached its maximum forward displacement, the ball snaps back toward the player, and after bouncing off the ground one time the ball flies toward the player in the air. Because of the modified bladder and the resulting softer, more flexible ends of the football, the ball bounces back to the player in a consistently catchable fashion. The consistent bounce allows the player to independently throw and catch the ball numerous times in rapid succession. Practicing with the football practice apparatus is much like “playing catch” or throwing and catching with a partner, allowing the user to build arm strength and improve throwing mechanics while also practicing catching and ball handling.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention will now further be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying diagrams wherein:

FIG. 1 illustrates a side elevation view of a tethered football according to the invention;

FIG. 2 illustrates a side elevation sectional view of the tethered football shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 illustrates a side elevation view of the football practice apparatus in use.

DRAWINGS—REFERENCE NUMERALS

 8 American style football  9 exterior layer of football 10 first interior layer of football 11 second interior layer of football 12 laces 14 air valve 16 plug attaching cord to ball 18 swivels 20 modified rubber bladder of reduced size 22L open space in the front end of the ball's interior 22R open space in the rear end of the ball's interior 24 elastic cord 28 wrist band 30 player

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Turning now descriptively to the drawings, in which similar reference characters denote similar elements throughout the several views. FIG. 1 shows the exterior of the American style football 8 including standard laces 12, and standard air valve 14 for inflation of modified bladder. The American style football 8 has a tacky cover made of leather, rubber, composite rubber, or composite leather. A plug 16 is embedded in one end of the football 8 communicating with an elastic shock cord 26 joined in segments by metal spinners 18. FIG. 2 shows a cross-section of the apparatus including the football's exterior layer 9, the football's first interior layer comprised of foam 10, the football's second interior layer comprised of butyl rubber 11, standard laces 12, standard air valve 14, plug 16, elastic shock cord 26, spinners 18, a modified rubber bladder of reduced size 20 and empty space 22L & 22R at both ends of the football's interior. The modified rubber bladder of reduced size 20 may be of an increased thickness in order to improve said football's bounce. FIG. 3 shows the American style football 8 wherein a forward pass is being thrown by a player 30. When the football 8 has reached its maximum forward displacement, the football 8 snaps back to the player 30 who may catch the ball 8. The ball attaches to the elastic shock cord 28 joined in segments by spinners 18. The elastic shock cord communicates with a band 28 worn on the player's 30 wrist.

Since obvious changes may be made in the specific embodiment of the invention described herein, such modifications being within the spirit and scope of the invention claimed, it is indicated that all matter contained herein is intended as illustrative and not as limiting in scope. 

1. A ball comprising: an outer shell shaped like a football with a first end and a second end; a single bladder positioned within the outer shell, the single bladder being of a different geometric shape than the outer shell; a first empty space positioned between the first end of the outer shell and the single bladder; a plug positioned on an end of a cord, the plug being inserted into a second empty space positioned between the single bladder and the second end of the outer shell, the second end of the outer shell being positioned on an opposite side of the ball from—the first end of the outer shell, wherein the single bladder does not contact the first end, the first end of the outer shell being a distal end of the ball and the second end of the outer shell being a proximal end of the ball, the proximal end and distal end being positioned on opposite ends of a longitudinal axis of the ball.
 2. The ball of claim 1, wherein the outer shell includes a first interior layer formed of foam, and a second interior layer formed of rubber. 